Ginger Malfoy

Mother Dearest

Narcissa Malfoy was brooding in her living room, as she often was, when Ginny and Draco Apparated on her doorstep.  She heard hushed voices outside the house, and she absentmindedly thought of her and Lucius when they were young.  She then heard a knock and realized that someone must be at the door so she ran up to go check.

She turned the cold, hard doorknob and burst into tears at the sight of the blonde man and his red-headed wife.

"Drake, it's been over a decade," she sputtered.  "Wha-"

"I know mum, I-"

"When I saw you last, you were 18 years old!  Now you're what, 30?  Draco, dear, I don't know if I can talk to you."

Draco furrowed his pale eyebrows in annoyance.  Ginny laughed on the inside at his adorable Malfoy-stubbornness.

"Mum," Draco began.  "I'm sorry.  I was scared.  I was trying to move on from the past.  That wasn't right, I'm sorry.  You're still my mum.  I do love you."

Narcissa's tears kept rolling down her face but her crying was no longer audible.

Ginny spoke, softly and quietly, "I think he talks about you in his sleep.  On the night of our daughter's tenth birthday, she was trying to think of a name for her new owl, and she woke up the next morning and said, 'Cissa, her name shall be Cissa!'  We didn't know how she had heard it or when, but it was so amazing-"

"You have a daughter you decided not to tell me about?" Narcissa shrieked, interupting Ginny's memory.

"I'm sorry mum," Draco repeated.  "But I thought you knew that Ginny was pregnant.  We told you about it.  I was 19.  It was the year after the wedding."

"Blast that wedding," Narcissa rolled her eyes.  "Just because you invited us to your nasty wedding ceremony full of Gryffindors doesn't mean you can push us into a broom closet after the thing is over with, and then not tell us when your baby is born!  I'm your mother and Lucius is your father, whether you like it or not!"

"Oh, is that like you have to be a Death-eater whether you like it or not?  Because I didn't like that rule very much!" Draco hissed.

Narcissa paled even paler than she already was.  "You know that he would have killed us if we wouldn't have joined him  He made us do it."

Ginny began to get angry.  "The Dark Lord couldn't make you do anything.  You were just too fearful to face the consequences."

Narcissa's pale face turned red with anger.

"I love Draco with all my heart," Ginny said, "and I would never have wanted him to die, but no sixteen year-old-boy," she said, grabbing her husband's left arm and pulling up his sleeve, "deserves this."

All three of them looked in hateful disgust at the menacing Dark Mark eternally imprinted on his forearm.

After a moment, Draco softly drew his arm away and buttoned his shirt-cuff again.

Narcissa looked as if she was done arguing for now.  "Nevermind all this, Draco, you're going to hear enough from your father."

She led them into the Manor.  Draco took in the old house that had been his childhood home.

Narcissa took a glance at Ginny and casually asked, "You just have the one daughter, then?"

"Umm.." Ginny stuttered, taking a glance at Draco.  He motioned for her to go on.

"Actually, I'm pregnant again," Ginny said.

Narcissa smiled.  A genuine smile.  "Well, thank you for being honest, dear, although I would think a daughter-in-law could tell me these things without asking her husband's permission first."  Narcissa's tone was sarcastic, but her smile was real.  She would love nothing more than to have these grandchildren to watch and talk to, which would be damn near impossible now that this daughter of theirs was already at Hogwart's.

"And," Narcissa said, slowly and honestly.  "Did your daughter really name her owl Cissa?"

"Yeah," Ginny said.  "Yeah, she did."

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A/N:  Mummy down, daddy to go!  Vote, comment, fan, add. (:  do all that fun stuff.  it makes me so happy when you do! (: